The Big Fat List of Documentaries About Photography
Want to watch a non-fiction film about photography? Here’s a list of documentaries (and some other stuff) concerning photography that I’ve collected over the years.
Documentaries
- 1948, The Photographer – YouTube
- 1957, Ansel Adams, Photographer – YouTube
- 1972, Going Where I've Never Been The Photography of Diane Arbus – YouTube
- 1973, The Decisive Moment – YouTube
- 1983, Shadows from Light
- 1984, America and Lewis Hine
- 1986, Fire in the East: A Portrait of Robert Frank – YouTube
- 1986, Karsh: The Searching Eye
- 1989, Creativity with Bill Moyers: The Photographer's Eye – YouTube Clip
- 1989, Helmut Newton: Frames from the Edge – YouTube
- 1989, Strand, Under the Dark Cloth – YouTube
- 1989, W. Eugene Smith: Photography Made Difficult – YouTube
- 1993, Sebastião Salgado: Looking Back at You
- 1994, A Great Day In Harlem – YouTube
- 1995, Lee Miller: Through the Mirror
- 1995, Legends in Light: The Photography of George Hurrell – YouTube
- 1995, Through the Lens
- 1996, Dreamgirls: The photography of Guy Bourdin – Dailymotion
- 1996, Richard Avedon: Darkness and Light – YouTube
- 1998, Dying to Tell the Story
- 1998, National Geographic: The Photographers
- 1999, Magnum Photos: The Changing of a Myth – Vimeo
- 1999, Moments of Impact: Stories of Pulitzer Prize Photographs
- 2000, Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks – Netflix/YouTube
- 2000, Naked States
- 2001, Alfred Stieglitz: The Eloquent Eye – YouTube
- 2001, Henri Cartier-Bresson: L’amour Tout Court (Just Plain Love) – YouTube
- 2001, Jazz Seen: The Life and Times of William Claxton
- 2001, Near Equal Daido Moriyama – YouTube
- 2001, War Photographer
- 2002, Gursky World – Vimeo
- 2002, The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia
- 2003, Ansel Adams, American Experience
- 2003, Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Impassioned Eye
- 2003, Martin Parr – De Magie van het Moment – YouTube
- 2003, Milton Rogovin: The Forgotten Ones – Vimeo
- 2003, Rivers and Tides – Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time – YouTube
- 2003, Robert Capa In Love and War – YouTube
- 2003, The Adventure Of Photography – YouTube
- 2003, The Colourful Mr Eggleston – YouTube
- 2003, The World According To Martin Parr – YouTube
- 2004, Arakimentari (Bill Bartlett)
- 2004, Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids
- 2004, The War in Iraq: Through Photographers' Eyes – Online
- 2004, Thinking XXX
- 2005, Leaving Home, Coming Home A Portrait of Robert Frank
- 2005, What Remains – Sally Mann
- 2005, William Eggleston in the Real World
- 2006, Annie Leibovitz Life Through A Lens
- 2006, Manufactured Landscapes
- 2006, …More Than 1000 Words
- 2006, Tierney Gearon: The Mother Project
- 2007, At Close Range With National Geographic
- 2007, Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe
- 2007, Eloquent Nude: The Love and Legacy of Edward Weston & Charis Wilson
- 2007, Helmut by June
- 2007, Michael Kenna's Hokkaido – Stream
- 2007, Shadow of the House
- 2008, An Unlikely Weapon
- 2008, Blood Trail: Shooting Robert King
- 2008, In Harm's Way – War Photographers – YouTube
- 2008, Visual Acoustics The Modernism of Julius Schulman
- 2009, Erwin Olaf, on Beauty and Fall – Vimeo
- 2009, Japan in Colour: The Wonderful World of Albert Kahn
- 2009, Karsh Is History
- 2009, Salt
- 2009, Shadow Play: The Making of Anton Corbijn
- 2009, The Cambodian Room – Situations with Antoine D'Agata
- 2010, Bill Cunningham New York
- 2010, Marwencol
- 2010, Moonbug
- 2010, Smash His Camera
- 2010, South Africa in Pictures – Vimeo
- 2010, Teenage Paparazzo
- 2010, The Man Who Shot The 60s – YouTube
- 2010, The Pirelli Calendar Saga
- 2010, The President's Photographer – PBS
- 2010, The Weird Adventures of Eadweard Muybridge
- 2010, The Woodmans – Netflix
- 2010, Waste Land
- 2011, America in Pictures- The Story of Life Magazine – Vimeo
- 2011, Artists and Alchemists
- 2011, Bert Stern: Original Madman
- 2011, Last Days of the Arctic
- 2011, Rock 'N' Roll Exposed: The Photography of Bob Gruen
- 2011, Sam Abell – The Life of a Photograph – YouTube
- 2011, Shooting the Hollywood Stars – Vimeo
- 2012, Anton Corbijn Inside Out – YouTube
- 2012, Deadline Every Second
- 2012, Chasing Ice
- 2012, Gregory Crewdson Brief Encounters
- 2012, In No Great Hurry: 13 Lessons in Life with Saul Leiter
- 2012, McCullin
- 2012, No Worries – Martin Parr – YouTube
- 2012, The Many Lives of William Klein – YouTube
- 2013, Everybody Street
- 2013, Eye on the Sixties: The Iconic Photography of Rowland Scherman
- 2013, Vivian Maier Who Took Nanny's Pictures – YouTube
- 2013, Which Way is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington
Series
- 1983, BBC's Master Photographers
- 1988, Contacts, Vol. 1 The Great Tradition of Photojournalism
- 1992, Contacts, Vol. 2 The Renewal of Contemporary Photography
- 1997, Decisive Moments – The Photographs That Made History
- 1999, American Photography: A Century of Images
- 2001, Contacts, Vol. 3 Conceptual Photography
- 2007, Edwardians in Colour: The Wonderful World of Albert Kahn
- 2007, The Genius Of Photography
- 2012, Capture with Mark Seliger (RSRV)
- 2012, Picture Perfect (Vice)
- 2012, Witness (HBO)
Films By Photogs
- 1966, Who Are You, Polly Maggoo – Film by William Klein
- 1993, Don Van Vliet: 'Some Yo-Yo Stuff' – Vimeo – Documentary by Anton Corbijn
- 1999, Think of England – YouTube – Documentary by Martin Parr
- 2005, Stranded in Canton – Online – Documentary by William J. Eggleston
- 2007, Control – Film by Anton Corbijn
- 2010, Despair – Online – Film by Alex Prager
- 2010, Restrepo – Documentary by Tim Hetherington
- 2010, The American – Film by Anton Corbijn
- 2010, The Forgotten Space – Documentary by Allan Sekula
- 2011, Teddy Gray's Sweet Factory – YouTube – Documentary by Martin Parr
Related
- 1972, Ways of Seeing (Art Appreciation)
- 1992, Visions of Light – The Art of Cinematography (Cinematography)
- 2000, Killing Us Softly 3 Advertisings Image of Women (Advertising Industry)
- 2001, Stanley Kubrick – A Life In Pictures (Film Industry)
- 2003, Los Angeles Plays Itself (Film Industry)
- 2004, Light Fantastic – YouTube (Light)
- 2009, The September Issue (Fashion Industry)
- 2010, How to Make a Book with Steidl (Photo Books)
- 2011, Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel (Fashion Industry)
- 2011, Under Fire: Journalists in Combat (War Journalism)
- 2011, The Story of Film: An Odyssey – Netflix (Film History)
- 2012, Side by Side (Film Industry)
Bonus
- Bring Your Own Doc: A conversation with director Jeff Malmberg about Marwencol – YouTube
- Getty Images Grants for Editorial Photography 2012 – YouTube
- Henri Cartier-Bresson Interviewed by Charlie Rose – YouTube
- Inside Media: The President's Photographer – YouTube
- James Nares – STREET – Lecture – Vimeo
- Joel Meyerowitz 1981 Street Photography Program – YouTube
- Magnum Photos – Earthlings by Richard Kalvar – YouTube
- Magnum Photos – Personal Best by Elliott Erwitt – YouTube
- Mark Feeney: "Four Photographers on Three Wheels: William Eggleston's Tricycle and Before" – YouTube
- Peter Fraser 2011 talk on his work and workshop assignment – Vimeo
- Sarah Moon is a Master of Photography (from Contacts) – YouTube
Feel free to suggest any films we’ve left off the list in the comments below.
About the author: Wirjo Hardjono is a photography enthusiast who enjoys finding and watching films about photography. This article originally appeared here.
Image credit: film-reel by eelke dekker, Be Kind Rewind film reel by seafaringwoman
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